Agence France-Presse: Uganda paid U.S. PR firm ‘to clean up image’ after anti-gay bill “A row over a law banning homosexuality in Uganda has been reignited after it emerged that the government paid a U.S. public relations firm to offset negative publicity, a report said Monday. Uganda’s Observer newspaper said…

U.S. Department of State’s “DipNote”: New Tools for LGBT-Inclusive Development Laura Adams, an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at USAID, writes about the launch of a USAID “publication to help development professionals implement LGBT-inclusive programs in the countries of Europe and Eurasia: the Toolkit for Integrating LGBT Rights Activities…

Associated Press: U.S. names first global envoy for LGBT rights “The United States named its first international envoy for gay rights Monday, tasking a veteran diplomat with leading U.S. efforts to fight violence and discrimination against LGBT individuals overseas…” (Lederman, 2/23). Washington Post: Kerry names special envoy for LGBT rights…

Inter Press Service: Inequality Fuels HIV Epidemic in the Caribbean “…The Caribbean is one of the most heavily affected regions in the world, with adult HIV prevalence about one percent higher than in any other region outside sub-Saharan Africa. The HIV pandemic in the Caribbean is fueled by a range…

JAMA: Focusing to Achieve a World Without AIDS Anthony Fauci, NIAID director, and Hilary Marston, senior policy fellow for HIV/AIDS at NIAID “…[T]he new [global AIDS] goals are the ’90-90-90’ targets: by 2020, 90 percent of all people living with HIV should know their HIV status, 90 percent of those…

The Guardian: Gay Ugandans face new threat from anti-homosexuality law “…Despite being annulled by the country’s constitutional court on a technicality last summer, MPs haven’t given up on attempts to further criminalize homosexuality. According to a leaked draft, a new law is in the making. … It not only curbs…

amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research: amfAR Announces New Grants to Support Implementation Science Research Among Key Affected Populations “In an effort to address the unrelenting disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on gay men, other men who have sex with men (MSM), and transgender individuals — collectively known as ‘GMT’ –…

Open Society Foundations: Four Laws That Are Devastating Public Health in Uganda Naomi Burke-Shyne, a senior program officer with the Law and Health Initiative and the International Harm Reduction Development Program, highlights four Ugandan laws that “target individuals who are already marginalized by society and most in need of health…

The Hill: To consolidate an Obama legacy, entrench support for global LGBT rights Raymond Smith, senior fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute “With attention increasingly turning to the legacy of the Obama administration, one area of civil rights seems sure to be viewed as a breakthrough success: the recognition and…

USAID’s “IMPACTblog”: A ‘Daily’ Struggle for Human Rights Nicole Widdersheim, human rights adviser for USAID’s Center for Democracy, Human Rights and Governance, discusses U.S. efforts to expand human rights, as well as its link to economic development (12/10).